January 2012 rads

Hi Kate, Such a lovely place to be before the holiday season. HOHOHO.

I have my first meeting with my RO on 12/28. I was going to forgo this burning treatment til I joined a Rad thread on this site, all the ladies are so encouraging and brave. Now I'm almost looking forward to this. 

I said NO to chemo, and I am on the fence about hormone theropy. I had my hormone levels checked. Very low estrogene levels. Whats the point!

We can "sail" through this together.

Are you making any preperations to your skin to protect it from the Rads? I'm not sure there is any pretreatment to avoid the sunburn effect. That dosen't scare me as much as the fatigue and the long term effect on the heart and lungs. although they are 'RARE'.

I feel that the radiation is the least of the '3 evils' that is offered to BC gals. Just my opinion.

So lets sail away and be a strong cup of tea!!

HEATHY HOLIDAYS,Maureen

hello Kate,

A 20 mile marathon X 30? I don't think so. KILL me now. I'm not trying to down-play the fatigue, but that would wipe me out. Stay hydrated, eat well and often, rest whenever possible. Many women that go into the radiation treatment have already been depleted by the chemo and most say it is "doable". I'm going to ask for an appointment as late in the day as possible.

I had 3 surgeons and 2 MO's tell me I needed chemo. I refuse. In many cases the only thing the chemo does is compromise your immune system, take your hair, leaving the cancer behind. I'll let the rads wipe out any microscopic cells left behind after the surgery.

I sound like a whimp but i'm not. Many of us are over diagnosed to keep the medical industry alive and well.

Rads won't get the best of us. Think of it as a time for well deserved R&R. 

Happy and HEATHY, Maureen

anniealso,

Thanx for the holiday cheer. I needed that.

Coffee and rads, oh my. Sounds good to me.

hugs and love to all, Maureen

I start rads in January 2012.  6 1/2 weeks of 5 days at week.  Finished my last chemo on Dec. 13.  I'd love to be a part of the Jan. '12 radiation group.  I had left mastectomy on 8/11/11.

I will be beginning radiation in January as well.  I meet with the radiation oncologist next week and will probably start mid-January.  I had a radiation boost during surgery 2 weeks ago so this will cut down on some of my rad time.  At our first consult he said it would probably be 5 weeks.  I am still waiting for the results of an Oncotype test but my surgeon is not anticipating it being high enough to warrant any chemo as my tumor was small and the margins and nodes were clear.

 And Kate  I do believe things happen for a reason and there is no such thing as a coincidence.

AussieKate, Oncotype test is to determine if chemo will help kill off the cells that "got away."  Radiation is only going to help with a local recurrence.  For example, someone may have had their mass removed, but if a cell or two is left over near the breast, RADS will help kill those off.

Chemo is the only thing that will kill off cells that might have "got away" and left the breast area.  Chemo is always recommended when there is lymph node involvement since this indicates a cancer cell could be hiding out in the bones, liver, lungs or brain and can turn itself on later.  When this happens, the individual is considered to have mets and then the cancer is no longer curable.  The Oncotype test gives a number to help with a chemo decision.  Low numbers indicate that chemo wouldn't act on the person's particular type of cancer and high numbers mean that chemo will kill bad cells off.

By the way, I have never heard of a doctor saying that taking Herceptrin for HER2+ is overkill.  HER2+ is an extremely aggressive cancer and before the meds Herceptrin, women would die from that particular type of cancer.   Until your full pathology report comes back, it would be tough to make a decision on the best treatment.

BTW, my SN was negative on the initial pathology, but my BS felt my tumor was very close to my axillary so we agreed he would take a few lymph nodes while he was in there.  In the end, the SN was still negative, but there were 2 others that were positive.  Had he only taken the SN, I would have never known what was lurking in there.  Needless to say, as much as I didn't want chemo, I knew it would take my chances of recurrence down by a lot and kill any cells that may have escape.

I've had my RO since June when I thought I would be a quick surgery, RADS and Tamoxifen.  Things are never what they seem.  Now that surgery and chemo are done, I go in for mapping on 12/27.  RADS will start either 1/2 or 1/3.  I've been kicking butt for 6 months now and plan to continue.

Gayle56, the Oncotype results have nothing to do with the size of a tumor.  The test is looking specifically at the individual's cancer.  It tests 21 (I think) specific genes.  There are women with 6cm tumors who score a 4 and then there are women with 1cm tumor that score a 35.  Each person's genetic make-up is different.

I hope your numbers are low.  Also, chemo is a personal decision...not really the BS, MO or ROs.  A lot also depends on your age.  The younger you are (under 50 typically), the more likely they are going to recommend chemo and then you have to weigh it out and make the final decision.

I would suggest reading up on HER2+ also.  There are groups on BCO that can tell you a lot about that specific type of tumor.  Good luck and best wishes.

Rockym thanks for that information.  All of this has been quite overwhelming but I am slowly doing my research and understanding what everything means.    I don't think my surgeon meant that the size determined the Oncotype number, I think he meant more that the tumor was very small and there was little chance that anything else was floating my body so to speak with the nodes and margins being clear.  I am over 50, I will turn 56 next month.  I will see what the medical oncologist has to say next week.  I have already decided if chemo is recommended I would get a second opinion down at MSK in NYC. 

Gayle56, glad to hear you have an MO appointment lined up.  I too went for a 2nd opinion after the first MO recommended TACx6.  I thought it was a bit overkill since my nodes only had micromets.  The MO at the 2nd opinion recommended TCx4 and called it chemo light.  I was glad to find out that there was an alternative for me.  I also sent my pathology slides to Johns Hopkins for a 2nd since the language on my final pathology was poorly written.  The first report said they saw "possible lymph nodes" and they were positive.  I was very angry because how could I make a decision when the wording was "possible."  Anyway, I stayed with the first MO, but he agreed we could do the TCx4.  I'm now 5 weeks PFC and ready to get this next phase over with.

Hope your appointments are all positive with the easiest treatment plan.

Hi,

I too start radiation in Janurary.  I had my simulation last week and start 1/3.  I am a bit worried about radiation, especially about the risk for lung scarring.  I am glad to join this group and have sisters to journey with during treatment.

I finished chemo on 11/30.  Chemo was not easy for me but I survived it and am happy to put it behind me.  My tumor was small, 8mm, and I am node negative. They found some 'isolated cells during my snb, but I am still considered node negative, it seems. Chemo was recommended for me because I am HER2+.  I really didn't want to do chemo and was terrified of both short and long-term side effects.  But the more I learned about HER2, the more I am glad I went ahead with chemo and am now on herceptin. 

Anyone heard about emu oil?  It was recommended by a couple of gals on the TCH thread and I plan to get some to use on my skin during rads.  

Hi everyone,

I went through the measurements in December and went on a family cruise, got back the 24th and will go tomorrow, 12/27 for 3D/IMRT Verification Simulation.  I think I will receive my first radiation treatment tomorrow. 

They told me the main side effects would probably be mild burning and fatigue which could become quite severe. 

So, off to bed and will let everyone know how it goes.

Rockym, Good luck today with the simulation.  It can be an emotional time. It's OK to cry if you need to.  Please do something nice for yourself today.  You deserve it.

Elizabeth1889, thanks for your good wishes.  The CT scan and mapping was pretty uneventful.  I reminded them that I wasn't doing permanent tattoos and the ladies were appreciative.  They actually had the permanent pen out and had the doctor come in to make sure that was okay.

I'm taking your advise and I'm going to have lunch with a friend today.  Maybe this evening I'll watch Terms of Endearment or Beaches :-) so I can get the tears flowing. 

Got the 3d imaging and first radiation treatment today.  It didn't affect me at all and go back again tomorrow.  Of course the showering around those strips was a drag tonight.  But of course, I know, this is just the first day and the radiologist told me after a couple weeks is when I will start feeling the fatigue.

Hope everyone else is doing okay but just wanted to let you know it wasn't a bad day.

Helen